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From the Ethics of the Fathers: "He [Rabbi Tarfon] used to say, it is not incumbent upon you to complete the task, but you are not exempt from undertaking it."

Friday, June 24, 2016

Palestinians have also learned that their leaders are
"untouchable" and above criticism. Both Mahmoud Abbas and his
predecessor, Yasser Arafat, have even taught Palestinians that
"insulting" their president is a crime and an act of treason.

For many years, Palestinians
hoped that one day they would enjoy public freedoms under the leadership
of the Palestinian Authority (PA), like the freedoms their neighbors in
Israel have. But more than two decades after the establishment of the
PA, democracy and freedom of speech are still far from being introduced
to Palestinian society.

A PA court sentenced Anas Saad Awwad to a year in prison for
posting on Facebook a photoshopped picture of Abbas wearing a Real
Madrid shirt.

"Come and invest in the Palestinian areas, but if you don't bribe
their corrupt officials, the Palestinian Authority will arrest you.
This is a desperate political arrest by an undemocratic Palestinian
Authority president who has no credibility amongst his people. " —
Khaled al-Sabawi, son of Palestinian-Canadian investor Mohamed
al-Sabawi, who was jailed for recommending the removal of Mahmoud Abbas
from power.

It is not easy for an Arab journalist to criticize his or her
leaders. If there is one thing Arab dictators cannot tolerate, it is
criticism, especially when it comes from an Arab journalist, columnist
or political opponent.

For many years, Palestinians were hoping that one day they would
enjoy freedom of expression under the leadership of the Palestinian
Authority (PA). But more than two decades after the establishment of the
PA, Palestinians have learned that democracy and freedom of speech are
still far from being introduced to their society.

Since then, Palestinians have also learned that their leaders are
"untouchable" and above criticism. Both Mahmoud Abbas and his
predecessor, Yasser Arafat, have even taught Palestinians that
"insulting" their president is a crime and an act of treason.

Both
Mahmoud Abbas (right) and his predecessor, Yasser Arafat (left) have
taught Palestinians that "insulting" their president is a crime and an
act of treason. Pictured above: A Fatah propaganda poster featuring
Abbas and Arafat. The Arabic text reads "Bearer of the trust" on top.

During the past two decades, several Palestinians who dared to criticize Abbas or Arafat have been punished in different ways.

The latest victim of this campaign against critics is Jihad
al-Khazen, a prominent Lebanese journalist and columnist who recently
wrote on article about the need for the "failed and corrupt" Palestinian
Authority leadership to retire.

Al-Khazen, a veteran journalist with the London-based pan-Arab newspaper Al-Hayat, is now under attack by the PA. The goal: deterrence of free speech.

In the Looking Glass land of the Palestinian Authority, criticism of
Abbas is classed as "insult to the president" and has landed critics
behind bars -- or worse.

In 2013, a Palestinian journalist working for the al-Quds TV channel in Bethlehem, Mamdouh Hamamreh, was sentenced to one year in prison
for posting a picture on Facebook that was deemed insulting to
President Abbas. Abbas was depicted in the image as a fictional
character who collaborated with French colonial forces in Syria. Abbas
later pardoned the journalist.

That same year, a Palestinian Authority court sentenced Anas Saad Awwad,
from the West Bank village of Awarta, to a year in prison for posting
on Facebook a photoshopped picture of Abbas wearing a Real Madrid shirt.

Also in 2013, PA security forces detained a Palestinian-Canadian investor,
Mohamed al-Sabawi, 68, on charges of insulting Abbas. Al-Sabawi was
president of the Board of Directors of Ahlia Insurance Group, which
employs hundreds of Palestinians in the West Bank. He was detained for
two weeks after he publicly called for the removal of Abbas from power.

The businessman's son, Khaled, who is from Ontario, Canada, said that
the detention of his father showed that U.S. Secretary of State John
Kerry's plan to bring $4 billion in private investment to the
Palestinian territories was "nonsense." He added:

"Come and invest in the Palestinian areas, but if you
don't bribe their corrupt officials, the Palestinian Authority will
arrest you. This is a desperate political arrest by an undemocratic
Palestinian Authority president who has no credibility amongst his
people. I think my father hurt President Abbas's feelings."

In the past few years, Palestinian officials who have also dared to
criticize Abbas, or were accused of insulting him, paid a heavy price.
The list of officials who were punished for raising their voices against
their president includes Mohamed Dahlan, Yasser Abed Rabbo and Salam
Fayyad.

Mohamed Dahlan, an elected Fatah member of the Palestinian
Legislative Council and a former PA security commander in the Gaza
Strip, was expelled from Fatah in 2011 at the request of Abbas. Dahlan
was also forced to flee the West Bank after Abbas sent his security
forces to raid the Dahlan's Ramallah residence and arrest some of his
supporters. Dahlan has since found refuge in the United Arab Emirates.

Until recently, Yasser Abed Rabbo served as Secretary-General of the
PLO and was considered one of Abbas's closest aides. Last year, however,
Abbas removed him from his job after he reportedly criticized the
president in closed meetings.

Salam Fayyad, the former Palestinian Authority prime minister, was
also punished for allegedly criticizing Abbas. Last year, the PA froze Fayyad's bank account
and accused him of money laundering. The decision came after Fayyad
received a large sum from the United Arab Emirates for a
non-governmental organization that he, Fayyad, heads. Under pressure
from the international community and some Arab countries, Abbas was
later forced to rescind the decision.

Now Jihad al-Khazen has joined the list of critics who are being
targeted by Abbas and the Palestinian Authority. Al-Khazen's crime is
that he wrote an article lambasting Abbas and the veteran leadership of the PA.

The controversial article was published earlier this month in the Al-Hayat daily.

The article quotes an unnamed senior Gulf official saying that the
time has come for Abbas and the entire Palestinian Authority leadership
to retire. "We don't trust them," the Gulf official is quoted as saying,
referring to the PA leadership. Although the Gulf official is not
mentioned by name, Abbas and his aides in Ramallah say they believe the
man is Crown Prince Mohamed bin Zayed of Abu Dhabi (the emirate that
hosts and funds Abbas's arch-enemy, Mohammed Dahlan).

Commenting on Abbas's decision to freeze the bank account of Fayyad,
the senior Gulf official is quoted in the article as having said:

"Do you really believe that the United Arab Emirates
would choose to launder money though the Palestinian territories? The
Palestinian prosecutor-general later admitted that Abu Mazen [Abbas] had
ordered him to fabricate the charge. The United Arab Emirates is now
demanding a public apology from Abbas. We have suspended all aid to the
Palestinian Authority."

Al-Khazen said that the Gulf official also spoke with him about Abbas
and his wife and children. "But I have decided not to publish these
things," he added. Al-Khazen said he spent nearly two hours talking to
the Gulf official whom he quotes in the article.

The response from the Palestinian Authority was swift. In Ramallah,
calling for the retirement of the president and the PA leadership in an
influential Arab newspaper is a deadly serious matter. The 77-year-old
al-Khazen can consider himself fortunate that he does not live in the
fair city of Ramallah with the PA leadership.

The first attack on al-Khazen was framed in the traditional
Palestinian theory of a Zionist conspiracy. Published by the official
Palestinian Authority news agency Wafa, which is controlled by Abbas loyalists, the article
referred to the al-Khazen's charges as "vulgarities," and attempted to
establish a link between Israeli "incitement" against the PA and the
article in Al-Hayat.

Next we read of the beleaguered defensive posture. Abbas's agency
notes that the article aired at a time when the Palestinian Authority is
"facing the Zionist project on all fronts." Finally, we get to the
heart of the matter: dictatorial censorship. As in, where is it?

"Does a respected and responsible newspaper have the right to allow such filthy words to appear on its pages?" the Wafa
agency asks. "And does Jihad al-Khazen or anyone else have the right to
say whatever they want without any control? And do they have the right
to insult people or Arab leaders without being held accountable?"

Abbas's ruling Fatah faction has also been recruited to defend its
leader's reputation. Again, the faction resorted to the famous tactic of
linking any legitimate criticism of Abbas to Israel. In a statement,
Fatah accused the columnist of "serving the state of occupation
[Israel] and those who are working towards undermining President Abbas,
Fatah, the Palestinian leadership and the Palestinian people." The
statement added: "This is a service for the [Israeli] government of
Binyamin Netanyahu, which is interested in stepping up its organized
campaign against President Abbas."

In the eyes -- and words -- of Abbas and his cronies, anyone who
opens his mouth in criticism of the Palestinian president -- from a Gulf
leader to a respected Arab columnist -- is a mouthpiece for the Zionist
project.

Deterrence is the name of this game. And prison is probably the best
place some would-be whistleblowers can hope for. This is not what
Palestinians were hoping for when the Oslo Accords were signed with
Israel, paving the way for the creation of the Palestinian Authority.
Many Palestinians were hoping back then that, under the PA, they would
enjoy public freedoms like the ones their neighbors in Israel have.
Sadly, most Palestinians are no longer living under the illusion that
their current leaders would ever bring them democracy and freedom of
speech.

The case of al-Khazen, who is facing a campaign of intimidation and
insults, serves as a reminder to Palestinians that their leaders are
infallible and untouchable, and that the liberty they had hoped for is
still far, far away.

Khaled Abu Toameh, an award-winning journalist, is based in Jerusalem.Follow Khaled Abu Toameh on on Twitter

Source: http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/8320/mahmoud-abbas-untouchable Follow Middle East and Terrorism on TwitterCopyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.